What’s This? A Seller’s Market?
JACQUELINE SOUTHBY
National and even international buyers are having an impact on the Northwest Michigan real estate market. Text by Kim Pontius Over the Memorial holiday weekend my brother and his wife came up from Indiana for a brief visit. They haven’t been up for a couple of years, and so it was determined that we should drive around the area to re-introduce them to the sites and natural beauty. During the trip both my brother and his wife commented that there were a lot fewer For Sale signs posted than what they had noticed just two years prior. Their unsolicited opinion was spot on; we do have significantly fewer listings than existed before. Sales have been brisk. In fact the market has shifted from a buyer’s market to a seller’s market and the greatest struggle for local REALTORS® in the Grand Traverse region today is finding enough listings to meet the consumer demand. The Grand Traverse regional market in 2012 finished 26% over the 2011 sales year according to statistical tracking by the Traverse Area Association of REALTORS® and the 2013 sales forecast indicates that the regional housing market is trending ahead of 2012. This is great news for the local economy, but with this success comes another problem: inventory. Over the last five years new home starts in the region have been negligible at best, and the ability of builders to ramp up to meet a suddenly expanding new construction marketplace will be challenging. Regionally we’ve seen the “writing on the wall,” so to speak, for this convergence of existing housing shortage and lack of new construction starts for two years. This is reflected in the increasing values of existing stock (supply & demand), the increase in vacant land sales and the increase in high-end waterfront sales. New buyers purchasing waterfront properties and updating them for the next generation of vacationers or second-home owners are driving many of the waterfront sales. Many of these buyers are coming from regions of the country
that recently were introduced to the Grand Traverse area through the Pure Michigan campaign and the Good Morning America “Most Beautiful Place in America” honor that the Sleeping Bear Dunes received in 2011. Some data suggests that many buyers are international, reflecting a growing trend in Michigan and the United States. Vacant land buyers appear to be those who cannot find what they’re looking for in the existing housing stock and instead decide to purchase vacant property with the intention to build their ideal home. Some of the recent attributes that this new type of buyer is looking for are highly energy-efficient homes, aging in place/zero-step homes, transit-oriented locations and locations that are walkable and bicycle friendly. As the market shifts and continues to strengthen, the ability to provide local REALTORS® and consumers with all of the best data and tools has become a challenge too. To counter this challenge the local REALTORS® are differentiating themselves through the collaborative formation of a regional MLS database called the Northern Great Lakes Regional MLS (NGLRMLS). Launched in March of 2013 the NGLRMLS will help connect REALTORS® throughout Northern and Central Michigan giving them the most comprehensive and accurate database of this unique region anywhere. As it grows, this unique resource will eliminate the inaccuracies about local listing data that exists on many of the popular national websites. In summary, prices are still attractive, interest rates are historically low and opportunities in both residential and commercial are still out there, but who knows how long any of this will continue? The best bet is to consult a local REALTOR® to get the very latest market information. Kim Pontius is executive vice-president of the Traverse Area Association of REALTORS®.